06 Dec Is your business ready and compliant for the ticking GDPR time bomb?

Ricoh Transform is no longer active. You can keep up to date with the latest thinking from Ricoh Ireland on our new blog,Ricoh Insights.

Most Irish organisations are now aware of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which is set to come into force across the European Union on 25 May 2018. While this date may still seem quite distant, there’s no doubt that most Irish businesses have a lot of work to carry out to be ready and prepared. The GDPR introduces substantial changes to European data protection law, along with severe financial penalties for non-compliance. This new legislation will require companies to demonstrate their ability to quickly and efficiently recover and restore data in the event of a breach or data loss scenario.

It’s absolutely vital that Irish businesses are making the right decisions now and taking the correct steps to make sure their data and document processes are secure, available and compliant at all times.

Looking at a recent survey commissioned by Ricoh Ireland among IT professionals in Ireland, we can see that many Irish businesses are unprepared. With so many ways to create and store business documents now, particularly with the rise in mobile device usage, our survey found that of 55% of IT departments do not have full visibility of all business documents created across their organisation. In addition, a very sizeable minority (41%) of Irish IT departments admit to not being aware of all personal devices being used by colleagues to create documents for work related activities.

This lack of cohesion and control around document storage and availability makes it increasingly difficult for companies to guarantee access to business data when required Ricoh recommends a number of steps to ensure effective compliance in this area. This includes extending security policies to include personal devices that are used to create or share business documents. It’s essential that procedures are put in place for businesses which enable documents to be stored safely from every device and also properly indexed, searchable and archived in a working system. This will ensure secure availability at all times for those who need access, across multiple devices and locations.

The best way to approach document security and business continuity in the mobile age is through the implementation of best practice protocols. This is where an experienced document management partner like Ricoh or one of our business partners comes in. We can help you to safely harness the power of the data flowing through your organisation. This includes digital information as well as printed documents. We can provide your business with better ways of working, enabling your colleagues to be more productive, and ensuring that your processes are secure and compliant.

Crucially, we can help you to be prepared for the increasing complex regulatory environment that currently exists – which will become even more stringent and punitive when GDPR comes into effect.

Ricoh Transform is no longer active. You can keep up to date with the latest thinking from Ricoh Ireland on our new blog,Ricoh Insights.